Zipper limb restraint system



May 3, 1966 w. c. BOYCE ETAL 3,249,385

ZIPPER LIMB RESTRAINT SYSTEM Filed Feb. 27, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTO WILLIAM C- BOYCE 5"?! Haw/ma E. F EEMAN BY ATT RNEYS y 3, 1966w. c. BOYCE ETAL 3,249,385

ZIPPER LIMB RESTRAINT SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1964INVENTORJ. WILL/AM C. BOYCE and How/mo E. FR EMAN a/ A T'ra mum y 1966w. c. BOYCE ETAL 3, ,385

ZIPPER LIME RESTRAINT SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 2'7, 1964INVENTORS- WILL/AM c- BoY E and HowAw E.FREE'MAM BY 4 nrmavzks UnitedStates Patent This invention relates to restraint systems for theprotection of astronauts or occupants of high performance aircraft and,more particularly, to a zipper arrangement for positioning the limbs ofsuch occupants.

Various means have been employed to protect the arms, legs, hands andfeet of astronauts in restraint systems. Straps, gauntlets and bandshave been used, but they are hard to get into or out of. Some have to bepositioned by cables attached thereto and retracted by winding saidcables on reels or drums actuated by motors. This action is frequentlyjerky and unpleasant to the astronaut when restraint is applied,especially in the case of'straps, which are apt to be too tight. Rigidgauntlets or casings which come in place too suddenly and with too muchforce also cause discomfort.

It is an object of this invention to overcome these objections byemploying a zipper arrangement which starts at the point where the limbjoins the torso and progressively encases the member to its extremity.

It is a further object to employ zippers closed by cables and take-upreels which employ an action that is progressive and gentle, and whichgradually retracts the astronauts arm firmly into contoured recesses inthe seat structure and his legs into a resilient tube attached to saidstructure.

It is another object to provide a means to achieve the above objectiveswhich is easy to get into and out of and which is simple to operate andwhich is comfortable, safe and secure for the wearer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a zipper-restraintsystem which is easily constructed of conventional, currently availablematerials that lend themselves to standard mass production manufacturingtechniques.

Briefly, this invention comprises, for the arm restraint, a half zippersewed to the flight suit with the other half of said zipper fastened toan arm rest. The zipper is started at a point behind the shoulder andpulled in position by a cable or trolley system on the arm rest whichpulls the slide fastener. For leg restraint the astronauts legs reposein open tubes with zipper halves on both sides of each leg. The tube issecured to the seat and leg rests. To operate the leg restraint system,the occupant pulls the upper corners of the tube together and engagesthe zipper, the slide fastener of which is fastened to a cable ortrolley system which can then close the zipper.

The above and other advantages, features and objects of the inventionwill become apparent from the following description taken in connectionwith the following drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of the arm restraint systemshowing an arm extended with the zipper in the cruise, or open position;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic view of the leg restraint sysem showing the legrestraint with the zipper hooked at the starting end, near the hip,before restraint is-applied;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 2 with the zipper pulleddown to the knee as restraint is applied;

FIGURE 4 shows the zipper of the leg restraint system of FIGURES 2 and 3in its completely closed position with the leg encased under fullrestraint;

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FIGURE 5 shows a trolley system for closing and opening the zippers ofthis invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a schematic representation of the trolley systemv applied tothe leg restraint system.

In the drawings 10 represents the arm of an astronaut which is encasedin his suit and 12 illustrates a half zipper with its webbing 13 sewedto the suit arm. The other half of the zipper, indicated at 14, isfastened by its web to the arm rest 24 of the seat structure 16. A cord,or cable 18 is shown attached to a slider 20 which closes the zipperwhen the cable 18 is retracted by a reel or trolley system (not shown).Another cable 22 is attached to the end of the zipper in order to pullthe arm 10 back into the seat structure when the cable 18 has closed thezipper and pulled the said arm into the contoured arm rest 24. Therestraint action is progressive, startingat the shoulder and graduallyencasing the arm from shoulder to wrist. It is gentle and effective.Only the left arm is shown since the right arm would have the samecomponents and be subject to the same controls and restraints. A trackWay is attached to the seat structure and has mounted therein forslideable movement a guide ring 62 which has a projection 64 inengagement with a slot 66 in the track 60. Extension of the cord 18 tothe guide ring 62 and thence to a take-up reel will allow for the properdirection of force to the slider 20 in order to close the zipper. Theguide ring 62 is biased by spring 68 to hold the ring toward the elbowposition until it is engaged by the slider 20.

In FIGURE 2, the left leg of an astronaut is shown resting in an opened,flexible nylon leg tube 32 with two halves 28 and 30 of a zipperattached to it. A zipper slide fastener 35 is shown engaging the twohalves of the zipper at its upper end, and attached to it is a cable 26-which passes through a ring guide 36 and thence through a cable guide 40which is attached to the seat structure 16. The ring guide 36 isattached to a spring 34 which is fastened at a convenient place on theseat structure 16 of the vehicle, its purpose being to guide the cable26. The cable 26, after being threaded through cable guide 40, isextended back through the ring guide 36 to a reel (not shown), thearrowhead indicating the direction of pull required to close the zipper.

In FIGURE 3, the zipper slide fastener 35 is shown closing the zipperhalves 28 and 30 almost to the knee cap of the astronaut and in FIGURE 4it has closed it to the ankle. The astronauts leg is now completelyencased in the nylon tube 32, which being fixed to the seat structure16, holds the astronauts limbs firmly, yet gently in place and protectshim from accelerations or decelerations in any direction and from theso-called submarining effect. The right leg is encased in a similar tubehaving a similar zipper and controls. Both the arm enclosure of FIGURE 1and the leg enclosure of FIG- URES 2, 3 and 4 are part of a restraintsystem and the cables for closing the zippers are actuated and may becontrolled by a master system.

An alternative mode of operating the cables to open and close the zipperrestraint systems may be by means of a track and trolley arrangement asillustrated in FIG- URES 5 and 6. Although the track-trolley arrangementis shown applied to a leg restraint arrangement, it should be understoodthat it is equally applicable to the arm restraint system where thetracks are contoured to the shape of the arm rest and separate tracksare utilized for each arm. The trolley arrangement illustrated inFIGURES 5 and 6 comprises a track 48, fastened to the seat structurebetween the legs of the seated astronaut. This track is essentially achannel 48 in which rides a trolley 50 having wheels 52 in engagementwith the walls of the channel. Attached to the trolley 50 at both endsis a cable 42, which in effect is an endless belt. This cable passesover a drive pulley 46 which is connected to a reversible motor 44.. Thetrolley 50 carries a pole 54 and a cross piece 56, which is attached ateach end to cables 26. The cables 26 have hooks 58 suitable forattachment to zipper closures 35. When the said hooks are engaged in theclosures 35 and motor 44 turns in a counterclockwise direction, thecable 42 pulls the trolley 50 away from the torso of the astronaut, thusclosing the zippers. When the motor is reversed the trolley 50 reversesits direction and the zippers are opened. The cable 42 rides on idlerpulleys 47 and in the track 48.

We have thus described protective devices for the limbs of astronauts to:be used in conjunction with a restraint system, said devices employingthe novel arrangement of zipper closures starting at the torso andgradually enclosing the limbs to the extremities.

Although the invention has been described with reference to particularembodiments, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that-theinvention is capable of a variety of alternative embodiments within thespirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1.v In a restraint system for the protection of the limbs of astronautsor occupants of high performance vehicles, zippered means including azipper and means for enclosing a limb, said zippered means extendingfrom the point of joinder of a limb to a point proximate to theextremity of the limb, said zippered means having a portion along itslength fixedly secured to structure of said vehicle, and means forgradually closing the Zipper of said zippered means from the point ofjoinder of the limb with the torso to the end of said zippered meansproximate to the extremity of the limb.

2. A restraint system as defined in claim 1 wherein said zippered meanscomprises an enclosure for an arm of a vehicle occupant, one-half ofsaid zipper being seclosure and a motor and reel means for winding saidcable on said reel to close said zipper and force the limb of saidoccupant to said structure of said vehicle.

4. A restraint system as described in claim 1 wherein the means forclosing said zipper comprises a zipper slide, a trolley track secured tosaid structure of said vehicle, a trolley riding in said track, anendless cable attached to said trolley, a trolley poleon said trolleyhaving a hook attached to said zipper slide, and a reversible motor todraw said cable to close or open said zipper.

5. A restraint system as defined invclaim 1 wherein,

said :means for enclosing a limb comprises an open fabric tube for theleg of a vehicle occupant, said zipper forming a closure for said tubeand said tube providing the portion for attachment to said structure ofsaid vehicle.

6. A restraint system as described in claim 5 for the protection of thelegs of said occupant wherein the means for closing said zippercomprises a zipper slide, a track fastened to said vehicle, a trolley inengagement with said track, an endless cable attached to said trolley,said trolley being in engagement with said zipper slide, and a drivepulley attached to a reversible motor, said cable passing over saiddrive pulley to pull said trolley .to open or close said zippers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES 'PATENTS 1,706,634 3/1929Seils 297-413 2,004,765 6/1935 Molter 297-388 X 2,257,099 9/ 1941Beirise 297-388 X 2,611,363 9/1952 Peters 297-305 X 2,657,688 11/1953Tucker 128-134 2,679,842 6/1954 Brill 128-134 2,836,382 5/1958 Martin244-122 2,871,849 2/1959 Chatham et a1 2-2 2,940,701 6/1960 Beem et al.244-122 2,982,969 5/1961 Parker et a1 2-84 X 3,099,261 7/1963 Doss etal. 128-1 3,165,356 1/1965 Geier et a1 297-216 FRANK B. SHERRY, PrimaryExaminer.

R. B. FARLEY, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A RESTRAINT SYSTEM FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE LIMBS OF ASTRONAUTSOR OCCUPANTS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE VEHICLES, ZIPPERED MEANS INCLUDING AZIPER MEANS FOR ENCLOSING A LIMB, SAID ZIPPERED MEANS EXTENDING FROM THEPOINT OF JOINDER OF A LIMB TO A POINT PROXIMATE TO THE EXTREMITY OF THELIMB, SAID ZIPPERED MEANS HAVING A PORTION ALONG ITS LENGTH FIXEDLYSECURED TO STRUCTURE OF SAID VEHICLE, AND MEANS FOR GRADUALLY CLOSINGTHE ZIPPER TO SAID ZIPPERED MEANS FROM THE POINT OF JOINDER OF THE LIMBWITH THE TORSO TO THE END OF SAID ZIPPERED MEANS PROXIMATE TO THEEXTREMITY OF THE LIMB.